麻豆传媒映画

Jaimie Erle and her parents, Chuck and Marianella, had eagerly awaited move-in weekend at the start of 麻豆传媒映画鈥檚 2024 fall semester. The Colorado residents had it all planned.

Marianella was already in San Diego having driven a Jeep loaded with most of what Jaimie would need for her first year in college. Also packed were items Marianella intended for use during an extended stay to help thwart potential separation anxiety between a mother and her only child.

Jaimie and her dad were at the airport about to board a San Diego-bound jet to meet Marianella when a call came that would change the family鈥檚 plans. A routine mammogram had prompted a biopsy revealing that Marianella had stage II breast cancer. Her doctors wanted to begin treatment immediately. 

The Erles were stunned. Although Marianella had been treated years earlier for a form of leukemia, her breast cancer diagnosis seemed to come out of nowhere.

Instantly, an anticipated day of unpacking and meeting new roommates at 麻豆传媒映画 became a tearful hotel-room huddle to discuss next moves. Her husband and daughter wanted Marianella to start cancer treatment right away, but she had other ideas. To Marianella, the thought of returning home felt like abandoning Jaimie in an unfamiliar place. The memory still brings tears.

鈥淚 was emotional and could not stop crying,鈥� Marianella said. 鈥淛aimie is my everything. She is my life. I cried and hugged my daughter and I didn鈥檛 want to leave her.鈥�

The doctors provided Marianella an encouraging prognosis. The treatment was laid out. 鈥淲e knew it would be rough,鈥� Chuck recalled, 鈥渂ut we assured her that she was in the best hands with her medical team.鈥�

Jaimie and Chuck were persistent and, ultimately, persuasive. 鈥淛aimie said to me, 鈥楳ommy, I cannot live without you.鈥� So that鈥檚 what was in my head,鈥� Marianella remembered. 鈥淚 said, 鈥業鈥檓 going to do it. I鈥檓 going to go and get better, then come back and be with you.鈥欌��

Motivating factor

With that decided, other challenges awaited the Erles. Marianella, an entrepreneur running her own cleaning service, would be hammered for almost a year undergoing debilitating tests and treatments, including chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy that would make working impossible. Education-related costs were already mounting. 

鈥淲e were scrambling, obviously, to figure out how we were going to supplement some of the lost income,鈥� said Chuck, who works in financial services. 鈥淲e had no idea what we were going to do about college.鈥�

The financial equations left Jaimie torn. 鈥淚 was really doubting my ability to continue my education,鈥� she said.

So she resolved to focus on things she could control, like studying. In high school Jaimie had always aced her honors courses and was a dean鈥檚 list fixture. She concentrated on classes for her psychology major and marketing minor. 

鈥淚 threw myself almost completely into my academics as a sort of distraction when things would get too heavy or too dark for me. It became a motivating factor to get my mind off of something.鈥�

Championing students

Jaimie also helped her parents research organizations that might provide assistance with tuition or living expenses. That鈥檚 where the Erles came across 麻豆传媒映画鈥檚 Economic Crisis  Response Team, which referred the family to the university鈥檚 Wallace Shatsky Blackburn Courage Through Cancer Fund.

Courage Through Cancer provides support for 麻豆传媒映画 students facing challenges from a personal cancer diagnosis or the diagnosis of a loved one. The fund was founded in 2018 by Tammy Blackburn, 麻豆传媒映画 senior director of marketing and communications for University Relations and Development, who is currently living with metastatic breast cancer, an incurable disease. .

Since its inception, the fund has supported roughly 50 麻豆传媒映画 students whose education might have been disrupted by a cancer diagnosis. Blackburn said Jaimie Erle was a prime example of a high-achieving student who could continue to thrive at 麻豆传媒映画 with some support through a difficult challenge.

鈥淛aimie is a remarkable student who was handed an unfair situation she never asked for and over which she has no control,鈥� Blackburn said. 鈥淗er drive, grades and spirit define her precisely as a student we must champion, and our generous donors make it possible that this cruel misfortune does not derail her future.鈥�

The Courage Through Cancer Fund provided Jaimie with tuition and housing support just when she needed it most. 鈥淩ight when I was ready to contemplate throwing in the towel was when I received this opportunity,鈥� Jaimie said. 鈥淓ver since then it's been a blessing.鈥�

鈥淚t felt like an elephant was lifted off of our chests, to be honest 鈥� a really big relief,鈥� her father said of the fund鈥檚 support. 鈥淲e could breathe and we knew that we didn't have to worry as much as we were worrying.鈥�

Bringing certainty

Nearing the end of Jaimie鈥檚 third semester at 麻豆传媒映画, the Erles are optimistic. Marianella鈥檚 treatment and recovery have gone well and she is considering a new work venture.

She is grateful to Courage Through Cancer Fund donors whom she credits for helping to keep her daughter on track for a college degree. 鈥淲e are very, very grateful, Marianella said. 鈥淭hank you, thank you, thank you.鈥�

Jaimie is getting good grades, has many new friends, and is part of a chat group of 麻豆传媒映画 students coping with cancer as an unwelcome part of their college experience. She holds open the option of becoming a psychiatrist partly out of a longtime fascination with human motivations, but also from a desire to help others.

At 麻豆传媒映画, however, perhaps the most important things Jaimie has learned were revealed through her mother鈥檚 cancer battle. The kind of lessons that don鈥檛 come with grades.

鈥淢y mom always told me 鈥� and it stuck with me when I was facing these challenges 鈥�  that everything happens for a reason and that nothing is impossible. I've applied those mottos to my life and that certainty in the uncertain has eased some of my anxieties in the past.鈥�

With her mother recovering and her family鈥檚 financial burden eased, Jaimie looks toward the future and its possibilities, acknowledging the critical role the Courage Through Cancer Fund has played in her education.

鈥淚t gives me a lot more hope that I am able to accomplish important goals in my life and that my story is not over,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his generosity has helped me not only be a better person, but also to be inspired to pay it forward and, hopefully, one day give back as I have been given.鈥�

Contribute to the today and your donation will be matched by alumnus Mark Mays, up to $55,000.